The study analyzed 21,400 children ages five to 15. When researchers controlled for a host of confounding factors they did not find a correlation between family meals and child academic outcome or behavior.

“We find no relationship between family breakfasts or family dinners and any child outcomes—reading, math and science scores, or behavior problems,” Miller said. “That didn’t change according to the age of the kids or even how we measured family meals: whether it was three meals a week, five meals a week or nine meals a week didn’t seem to matter.”

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This is disappointing and I hope this is not a widely publicized study. The family structure is already fractured enough without telling families there is no value to shared meals. In my childhood it was the only time in the day we sat down for 20 minutes and focused on each other and that was invaluable.

Everyone’s score is the same in the schools, even when the quality of work is not. use am IQ test top give a more accurate depiction. It’s already been proven that the schools pass everyone regardless of the work they do.

It’s long been stated that children in families who eat meals together weekly do better, not because of those meals, but of the other traits these families share, such as more open and frequent communication patters, the availability of the family as a support system, and numerous others. The meals themselves do not help the child, it’s the family system that is behind those meals that help